


Rising from Darkness

by chaerimione



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Parent Gabriel Agreste, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaerimione/pseuds/chaerimione
Summary: For four years, Paris has been in the darkest times. Hawkmoth and his allies were ruling the city with dangerous, evil butterflies and ferocious creatures.There was only one thing needed since the Black Cat Miraculous was in possession: The Ladybug. Without it, the city would remain its looming state.But one wrong move from Hawkmoth could make him lose the one thing he guarded the most. Now, chaos has begun.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16
Collections: April 2020 - AU





	Rising from Darkness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theriveroflight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/gifts).



> Happy birthday, River! I hope you like this gift for your exchange and your birthday!

Adrien fluttered his eyes to the sun shining on his very large window. 

Even though the windows were slightly tinted, he still thought that the view was breathtaking as always. Tree leaves were swaying softly to the rhythms of the wind. Birds were singing softly while they perched among the branches. He could hear people laughing joyfully even when he stayed on the higher floor of the mansion. Seeing all these things just from the outside of his window made him wish that he could set his feet outside again.

But alas, he could not. Especially when his mother disappeared four years ago.

 _Mother…_ he thought sadly, leaning on a glass pane while staring down the scene below. He tried to push the thoughts away, but he couldn’t do it. It had been a while since he thought about his mother, anyway.

With one last effort of resisting, he finally let go, letting his mind reminisce of the events again.

He was fourteen, then, but it was a devastating time for him and for his father. He didn't know what had happened during that day, since he hadn’t been with his parents when they went on a fashion press around the city. But his father recalled the occurrence.

He talked about how strange it was being outside on the streets of Paris. Whenever his father looked upon a large crowd, several people would disappear without a trace. 

In all honesty, Adrien didn't really believe a word what his father said. Because, why would people suddenly disappear when they were fine going out of the house weeks ago? 

But then his father let him watch the news on his tablet a week later. Nadja Chamack interviewed witnesses who spoke how his girlfriend had vanished while they were sitting on one of the benches at the Trocadéro, and another where a mother exclaimed that her son was nowhere to be found sitting on the carousel anymore at the Place des Vosges. The reporter claimed that they were still investigating what happened. 

And when the video ended, he mentioned his mother’s fate again, dampening his already low state and cried hard on his father's shoulder. But at the end of the day, he realized that maybe his father didn’t want to lose another family member again, so he followed his wishes and stayed inside the house, vowing to never doubt him.

Adrien felt something wet on his cheeks. He was crying, he thought belatedly, so he hastily wiped the tears from the back of his hand and turned away from the window. When he took a glance on his clock, telling him that it was time to eat breakfast, he darted out the room, taking two steps at a time going down the stairs. His feet barely reached the bottom floor when he heard shouting coming from the atelier.

“What do you mean you let her get away? It could lead us to where the earrings were!”

He halted. His father never got so angry with work early in the morning, much less shouting in the kitchen. What was he going on about?

Creeping silently toward the door, he watched as his father paced back and forth beside his long table, one hand clutching a phone to his ear, and the other holding a strange dark box, tossing it casually in the air, and when it fell he would catch it, then toss it again, repeating the same motions over and over. 

Adrien glared at the box. _There it was again_ , he thought, appearing into his view that caused him so many struggles and restraints to steal it from him a couple of weeks ago.

It was just that _that_ box created so many secrets between him and his father ever since he saw it. He would hear him talking to the box in the kitchen when he thought no one was around. Sometimes, he would hear him talk about another box, the same as the one he held, to Nathalie and he would keep saying the Ladybug. He didn't know why he was obsessed with ladybugs, but he always said that it was partners with the one he was holding.

Well... It still didn't make any sense to him.

Then, when Adrien asked about the box, it's either his father would give him vague answers, or he would evade the question entirely. Not even subtle bribery could ever break the man. He was really adamant about his secrets.

It hurt him, though. He thought he would warm up to him even more because they lost his mother, his father's love of his life. He was his only family now. But it seemed like the only parent he ever had was slowly drifting away.

Despite his secrets, he should be grateful still. Because he had a kind, gentle, and caring father. He was always after his daily needs as he made sure that he was spending his time comfortably in the mansion. If he wanted a ramp in his bedroom, he would give it. If he wanted a lot of books and comics to entertain his time at home, he would provide.

So he tried to trample down his ugly thoughts about that box.

Forcing his mind back in the present, he watched with surprise as his father opened his wife's huge portrait and placed the box on the safe. Normally, he would never leave it out of his sight. This was the first time he actually let go of it.

Gabriel said something to it, but Adrien couldn't hear it. When he planted his ear to the door, all he could hear was “hidden” and “a long time.”

_What? Why?_

He moved away quickly when he saw his father starting to turn in his direction. He ran up through the flights of stairs, turned and moved down again. This time he walked slowly, as if he was just waking up and going down to breakfast. Three stairs left and the door of the atelier opened.

“Oh, Adrien! You’re awake!” Gabriel smiled widely, approaching him. He was surprised when his father hugged him. It took him a while to unfreeze his arms and returned the gesture.

“Good morning, Father.” He said softly.

“Morning. How was your sleep?” Gabriel asked once they pulled away.

“Peaceful as always.”

Gabriel smiled at that. “That's good, Adrien. Go eat your breakfast. Nathalie will provide your meal.”

Adrien nodded. Before his father could make a step around him he blurted out. “Are you going to eat with me, Father?”

Gabriel frowned slightly. “I’m sorry, son. I still have work to do and I already ate earlier. I'll join you next time, okay?”

Adrien solemnly nodded. It was no use anyway. Why did he have to bother asking every single time?

He sat down and ate once Nathalie handed him the meal. The atmosphere of the dining room was completely silent, almost in a tranquil state. But his head was turbulent. The unexpected turn of events from earlier flitted back to his mind like a plague.

_Why did his father abandon the box? It was very important to him._

He thought of his mother's huge portrait from his father’s atelier. The place where Gabriel put it after tossing it to the air several times.

He didn't know that a safe existed behind his mother's portrait. He always thought that it was a regular, ordinary thing. It’s no wonder that his father was always looking at his mother’s elegant portrait. 

_What else could be possibly in there? Some secret buttons? Or probably a hidden room behind the safe?_

He shook his head. It didn't matter now. His main focus was on the mystery he had been trying to unfold for how many weeks.

Once he was done eating, he left the dining room, crossing the first floor until he came face to face with his mother’s huge portrait.

Leaving no room for rethinking his decisions, he opened the frame. There he saw the safe, and the lock had a key dangling on it, so he turned the key and opened the safe too. Before he could see what was inside, he immediately shut his eyes tight. He remembered that his father wouldn’t like it when he came rummaging for his things.

 _But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him_ , he reasoned. 

Nodding to himself, he opened his eyes, and let out a groan.

There were a pile of books from the shelves and a stack of papers in between them. It would take a hard time finding the box. 

Letting out a sigh, he carefully moved the books aside, also trying to remember which books to put back in case they were arranged by his father. He was already eight minutes in when finally, a glimpse of a dark red color had reigned in his vision.

Just below at the second to the bottom of the shelf lay the prize of a hexagonal box. He picked it up and examined the symbol on the lid, fascinated by its intricate swirls and designs. The texture was rough, and he knew that this was an ancient and sentimental thing.

He hesitated in opening it. No, he shouldn't look into his father's belongings! _Resist, Adrien! Resist!_

Yet his curiosity was killing him, and his fingers were itching on the edge of the box.

Drawing in a large breath, he slowly opened the lid, and recoiled as a flash of light momentarily blinded him. But soon enough it stopped, so he took a chance to peek an eye out, and he was surprised to find a small creature copying his movements too, but it was...shivering?

It looked like it was anticipating a punishment. He didn't understand why it was afraid.

“P-please H-Hawkmoth.” The little black, cat-like creature begged. Its eyes were shut tightly. “P-please don't combine our Miraculous together.”

Adrien was stunned. He had a million questions in his mind, but those terms the creature mentioned didn't ring a bell to him.

“W-what?” He choked out. “Who is Hawkmoth? What do you mean by combining your miraculous?”

The creature finally opened his eyes, and it took a sigh of relief. “Thank kwami you're not Hawkmoth!” But its relief was short-lived, and it was looking around rapidly, looking for signs of someone, Hawkmoth probably. “Quick! Let's get out of here! We should go to Master Fu!”

* * *

“W-wait! Wait...” He held a shaking hand to the creature—kwami, he mentally corrected, who stopped floating back and forth in front of him while he took a seat on the couch when he felt himself swaying dangerously by the kwami’s words. “You mean t-to tell me that my father was a...a s-supervillain? And he was...t-terrorising Paris?” Adrien forced out a laugh, trying to take it as a joke. He could feel his heartbeat thumping loudly in his head. He forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths. He shouldn’t think of his father like that. “N-no way! He was busy doing stuff! And he was very gentle and caring towards me! Surely, we're not talking about the same man, are we?”

“Adrien,” the kwami, what's his name—Plagg, he belatedly recalled, whined. “We’ve already talked about how he looked. Of course we are talking about the same man! And let me tell you again, he was terrifying! I've seen him dominating the city with my own eyes. He launched a lot of evil butterflies across the city, creating fear among them! His assistant even made evil creatures with her own power! Please Adrien, you have to believe me!”

He hesitated. He could tell from the kwami's tone and his posture that he was telling the truth. However, if he were to believe him, then his father was a total psychopath.

But he couldn't be, right? He was a caring father. He even tried to protect him at all costs from the outside world. Surely, his father who was nothing but kind to him couldn't be a terrorist.

Right?

Besides, what he said was...magical. It seemed like those fairy tales he heard from bedtime stories where evil witches and wizards had powers to rule the world, and make the people's lives under them be miserable.

He always thought magic was not real. Maybe what this kwami said was not true?

However, seeing him coming out from the ring was magical enough. He didn't know that creatures like him actually exist in this world. Come to think of it, the things his father said four years ago were strange, out of the ordinary too. And now, Plagg was desperate that he was telling the truth. He should believe in him, right?

But his father. He could never see his father as a villain. No! He was kind. _Kind!_ Any kind man would never do that to the city he loved! So he couldn't be. _H_ _e couldn't be!_

Besides, he didn't have his mother anymore. He can't lose his father too!

Plagg’s kitten eyes were pleading, encouraging him to make a decision. He did want to know whether his father or Plagg had told him truths or lies. But he was afraid of the possibility of his father's two-faced identity.

He didn't know how to handle that.

However, the curiosity surging within him wanted to be satisfied. Deep down, he wanted to know the truth. He desired to know what his father was hiding all these weeks, probably even years. He couldn’t care about the consequences, just what was the truth.

“Okay, before I believe in you,” He started, releasing a deep breath before he continued, “You have to explain why my window is very peaceful.” He gestured to his large window he always looked into when he woke up. The scenery was still as peaceful as he remembered for how many years he was stuck in the mansion. “If what you said was a city full of chaos, darkness and misery made by my father, and presumably Nathalie, then prove it to me.”

Plagg hovered toward the window, examining what was wrong with it. Not one minute had passed and Plagg looked at him, staring wide-eyed at him in horror.

“Adrien, it's an illusion.”

He froze. His mind was frantically screaming in his head.

An...illusion? That's not true! It seemed real to him! What?

“H-how...how...can you tell?”

Instead of answering, he phased through the window as if it wasn't blocked, much to Adrien's astonishment, and with a deep breath, Plagg bumped into the scene and went back to him.

He watched in horror as the scene he used to love watching was slowly fading. The vibrant leaves of the trees were gone. Even the clear blue skies were transforming into a dark, purple sky.

All that he had come to love looking was replaced by what Plagg described to him earlier. The dark purple butterflies fluttering around the skies, the evil creatures roaming around the city. The screams the people made were not full of excitement unlike the ones he heard everyday on his window. Instead, they were screams of terror, and fear.

_No... no..._

He knelt, terribly shaking as he hid his head between his knees, the tears flowing from his eyes.

Everything he knew about his father and the city outside of him was all a… 

_Lie._

  
  



End file.
